Everything is pretty much done for AFEST now! I finished my belt for Arche last night and realized that I was like 99.9% finished with everything on a MONDAY. Crazy, right?

My AFEST costume schedule is pretty crazy, too. I am bringing a lot of stuff to this con, and despite the fact that L is bringing me up in an SUV, I'm still kind of worried about space in the hotel room, etc. I'm seriously considering bringing THE BIG COOLER this time because I can, even though I think it's going to be a huge pain. But hey.. I have a million things of luggage already. What's a gigantic cooler?? -..-

Mon- either Pascal or Arche, depending on what got worn on Friday probably?

And that's like.. No Bleach! Also, talked to L about the schedule and she was worried about missing a photoshoot she really wanted to participate in. Originally, I was going to wear Marie from P4, and I was bringing Yukiko for her. Well, since her photoshoot is the same time as the P4 photoshoot, I told her that she should just go to the one she wants to hit up the most, and I'll have one less costume to pack! She chose the other one, which was kind of relieving. I know it's strange, but I was really sad that she was going to wear my Yukiko for the second time when I'd only had the chance to wear it once. I don't know why it weirded me out. L doesn't smell or anything :P I couldn't swap and have her wear Marie because I didn't buy a wig for that costume and she and I don't have the same shoe size, so yeah. I'll get to have more wears on Yukiko than anyone after this convention! (As in.. I've worn this particular costume twice, and she's worn it once, so I win on wears on this specific set of garments.. not cosplaying the character in total)

The only things I could possibly work on are small. Arche needs a large, bulbous earring for her left ear only. I can't seem to find my bloodberry stuff, or I'd just repaint one of those blue. If a more thorough search today turns up nothing, I probably won't bother with an earring. Because, you know, I'm a srs cosplayer and care about accuracy!

I could also work on Kefka more.. it seems I can always work on Kefka more, though. I never got around to making the tassle for the right sleeve, or making the brooch. The plan was to make a wire frame for the brooch and cover it in sculpy and see how that bakes, but I don't know. Not sure how it'd work out. If I have time to mess with it, I will. The wire needs to be inside because the ends of the brooch all have beads dangling off them, and it seemed like the sturdiest way to do things.

And now.. here's a public scam alert!

Jamil Sneed of Schizophrenic Studios owes me money! I got an email a week after A-kon from him saying that he lost/destroyed/whatever his memory cards with his paid A-kon photoshoots on them, and that he'd have to send me a refund. That never happened. I have emailed him multiple times on this, and while his communication was great initially, he's never refunded my money or replied to any of my emails in the past.. oh.. I don't know.. month and a half to two months!

He's Dallas based, and he told me he goes to A-kon a lot. He said he probably wasn't going to Animefest this year, but may decide to check it out. That means I won't be able to find him at AFEST for a refund, but I do plan on reporting him to the convention, starting a few negative threads on specific cosplay sites and persuing all my free options to give this dude bad press. If he's at A-kon next year, I won't forget about this! I will take time out of my day to hunt him down and try to get my refund! If he refuses to pay, I will warn people on the con floor not to go to him! It doesn't matter how much he owes me.. he's got to learn to be more professional. >:( I am not happy about all of this, because this is literally the FIRST paid photoshoot I have ponied up cash for. I was really looking forward to the results, too! It reinforces my own negative thoughts that all those "paid photographers" at conventions are scammers and con artists. Isn't it just my luck that the first one I take a risk with ends up ripping me off?

Ugh. The whole thing has left a horrible taste in my mouth. I just want a few nice photos of a few good costumes. Like Arshtat and Kefka! I think after all this craziness is over, I'm going to see if Matt can hit up his coworker that has his own studio in town. I just think that for so many months of work, I should at least have a few pro photos, you know?

Anyway!

All the stuff for AFEST is pretty much all the stuff for NDK! Yay!

Since we're doing default Rayearth costumes with no armor, I don't have to rush to get a lot of that stuff done. I'm thinking that since we aren't doing armor, the girls (probably??) won't have swords. If that's the case, I'm not going to rush to get this sword done& mailed. Because seriously? Tons of work for something that will be expensive to send up, a pain to get back home, something extra to carry, etcetc. I'll probably work on it throughout the fall and bring it down to Ushi or something like that. I still haven't decided 100% on Ushi, but I have like 2-3 panel ideas if I decide to do that.

What do you guys think?

How to dress for your size: This panel would be about modifying patterns to look most flattering on your body type and how to make yourself look your best with the costume you choose. I'd cover basic fashion rules like skirt length, etc and apply them to costumes. We'd talk about when to modify the costume's original design to suit yourself better, and things like that. Most flattering sleeve lengths, skirt lengths, heel height, modesty panels, shaping undergarments, the importance of tights, why quilting cotton won't get you waist definition, etcetc. This panel would not focus on weight or weight related issues, but more on the technical parts of making a costume look tailored& flattering. I could go for 30 min- 1 hr on this depending on how much material I prepare. I'd need like.. posterboard cue cards or something with notes& pictures on them to help show what I'm talking about. It would be like a condensed version of body dressing rules seen on "What not to wear" without actually telling people they can't wear what they want. XD

Social issues in cosplay: This is probably not for Ushicon. I would really like to have a public round-table discussion with a large variety of cosplayers about social issues pertinent to our hobby: Anime/gamer influence on body hate, racism in cosplay, etc. There would be a few lighter topics like how public people are about this hobby, how they explain it to people for the first time, etc. This is something I'd need a lot of help with, and I don't think Ushi has the numbers. They are heavy topics, but I've heard there are articles out there that talk about how the anime/ video game/ comic book subgenre has bred some of the worst female body hate out there. I haven't been able to find the articles yet, but at least 3 people have told me about them, so they're out there somewhere. This panel would need 4-5 diverse cosplayers and a moderator and, if lively, would easily eat up an hour. The best thing about this one is I'd just need name cards, microphones, and like.. a pitcher of water. My prep would be a bunch of moderator-type notecards with discussion topics. Yay!

Besides those, you know me. I love my fabric choice panels. I could probably make a whole panel on nothing but fabric choice! That's all best rolled into a 101 style panel, though.

When I get back from AnimeFEST, I'll have a little bit of time to prep for NDK. Since we aren't doing armor, I'll only have a little bit of wig styling to do on Hikaru, and that's pretty much it.

I'm thinking about making Kyoko after all. I bought all the stuff for this costume, but I wrote it off weeks ago when the bathroom remodel happened, because that ate up nearly a month of my time. I wasn't able to get much of anything done in that time because they were constantly interrupting me. I figured there'd be no way in hell that I'd get that Kyoko costume made. I wasn't ever even planning on having a spear! But now that it looks like I'll have that week between AFEST and NDK with only Hikaru bangs, I think I might put a larger effort into getting Kyoko done. The wig needs to be styled. I need to finish the pink skirt. After that, I have to start everything else. Black bodice, maroon jacket top thing, decide whether or not to make boot covers, etcetc. Lots of work to do, but I don't think it's impossible. I'll work on it at my own pace, and if it happens, it happens! We'll have to see. The goal today is to get all the Animefest stuff in one pile, get my checklists knocked out, etc etc. I'm leaving Thurs, so I know this is like.. way ahead of time, but if I can get the Afest stuff packed and off my table, I'll have more room to work on other stuff!

Sorry I had to re-dictate the schedule, but I did ask for input this time :P

Usually at cons I do unpaid photoshoots with amateur photographers. That way, everybody wins. The two friends I have that I pay for photos with- note FRIENDS- are really good and I'm happy with everything they've given me. Plus, they're gamer nerds and cool people. I would be more skeptical of these random guys.

You've been so productive lately, but don't wear yourself out on the extra NDK costume!!